Vladimir or Olga, Anastasia or Nikolai, Ekaterina, Sergey, Leopold, Maria ... This form we most often find in the birth certificate and passport, as in any official document. But we call each other in the family and school differently - Vovochka, Olenka, Tasya, Kolyunya, Katyusha. Where does the difference come from? It arises precisely from the desire to distinguish between areas of use: diminutive names, unlike full ones, are used in an informal setting.
With the help of them, we seem to limit the circle of "ours" from outsiders. It is not by chance that diminutive names are allowed only with closer acquaintance, and even then they are not appropriate in all cases.
From the backstory
Some of the anthroponyms in the Russian language are of Slavic origin, most of them are borrowed from Greek and Latin. With the baptism of Russia, the tradition of naming children in honor of saints and great martyrs became widespread. But although angels, historical and biblical characters were considered patrons, in everyday life such a name was not used in full. On the one hand, the desire to save language resources affected: Katya was much shorter and more comfortable than Catherine, and Sasha was “more compact” than Alexander. On the other hand, there have long been forms of "for strangers" and diminutive names for the closest, for the initiates. There were also special secret anthroponyms that were supposed to divert evil forces from man. In addition, nicknames were widespread. Sometimes they turned into diminutive names, and sometimes into surnames.
Natasha or Natalia? Masha or Maria?
For a Russian, this would seem to be the same anthroponym. Only Masha and Natasha are diminutive and affectionate forms of the name. But here, foreigners who are not familiar with the intricacies of Russian morphology, sometimes call their children "Sasha" or "Rita", "Lena" or "Nadia." And for them, these are full forms. Often in Russia there is no unity in the interpretation of anthroponyms. For example, the female name of Vlad or Lada could not be registered in the registry office as an independent. It could only be part of the complete - Vladlen. Pet names are often full - but mostly in other languages.
Way of education
Anthroponyms are formed, as a rule, by a combination of roots (in the case of Slavic - Bogdan, Velimir, Yaroslav) or by transcription. Therefore, diminutive names (male and female) often represent one part. It is interesting that the second root is preferred in Russian: for example, Glory - the "universal" option - for Svyatoslav, and for Yaroslav, and Mstislav, and Vladislav ...
Sometimes a part of a foreign root is taken and modified. Thus, diminutive names such as Nastya (Anastasia) or Kolya (Nikolai) were formed. In most cases, any suffixes are added, which subsequently turn (together with the corresponding ending) into options: Sasha-Sashura-Shura, Anna-Anyuta-Nyuta-Nyura or Nyusha ...
Functioning in modern society
Most states when registering a newborn have certain requirements for the name. There are known cases of lengthy lawsuits where parents wanted to name a new member of the society an unusual anthroponym, but officials did not allow this. Who is right in such a situation? Regrettably, the authorities most often. After all, they are guided not so much by evaluating the creative imagination and creativity of their parents, as by how the name will function in society. More precisely, the person who was named that way, and not otherwise. After all, even "normal" names often change, to say nothing of the bizarre or funny! No one wants to be bullied. Therefore, parents, thinking up what to name the child, should take care of how diminutive names will sound, whether they will be offensive or funny. For example, Yvette is a beautiful anthroponym of French origin. But the diminutive - Vetka - is not so pleasant for hearing. However, not a name paints a person. So let's not forget about it.